Drouin concussed in Friday’s game against Remparts

Jonathan Drouin, right, of the Halifax Mooseheads, in a game from earlier this season, suffered a concussion Friday night while playing against the Quebec Remparts. (STEVE WADDEN)

Doctors have confirmed the initial suspicion that Jonathan Drouin suffered a concussion Friday night against the Quebec Remparts.

The Halifax Mooseheads forward underwent tests on Saturday afternoon and doctors made the diagnosis. He will now have to wait until his symptoms completely go away before he can play again.

“You always hesitate to call anything a minor concussion because we all know how these things go, but his symptoms are fairly minor,” said Mooseheads general manager Cam Russell.

“He still has a headache, so you can never say he feels good or better because you never know with these things. Sometimes the littlest thing can be a big thing and other times they just go away. They just don’t know enough with concussions to really make any kind of a call on a timeline.”

Russell said Drouin didn’t experience any of the more severe concussion side effects, such as vomiting or vertigo, after being driven into the glass from behind by Quebec Remparts forward Adam Erne. But he also didn’t want to create any expectations about how his star player’s recovery will progress.

“All I know is what the doctors told me about how it went today,” Russell said. “Like I said, sometimes it can go away right away and other times it can linger for a long time. I think everyone understands that these days. All we can do is follow the protocol. All we know for sure right now is he definitely won’t be playing tomorrow.”

Erne received a major penalty and a game misconduct for the hit but the league reviewed it on Saturday and decided not to hand down a suspension.

The QMJHL also took a look at Quebec forward Nick Sorensen’s cross-check to Darcy Ashley’s throat and made the same decision. Sorensen initially received a match penalty, which carries an automatic one-game suspension, but the league changed the infraction to a major and a game misconduct so he will not miss any games.

Russell initially considered making a comment on the rulings but decided after some deliberation not to say anything.

The Mooseheads face the Charlottetown Islanders on the road on Sunday but Drouin will not travel with the team.

The usual process dictates a player must be symptom free for a minimum of seven consecutive days before he can return to full activity. That means Drouin has played his final game for the Mooseheads leading up to the Christmas break and his status is doubtful for the first day of Team Canada’s tryout camp in Toronto on Thursday.

“Basically, when they’re headache free, then they can ride the bike,” Russell said. “If they can ride the bike without any symptoms, you can increase the workload. The next step after that is to get them on the ice, but if the headaches reoccur or any symptoms reoccur, you cut them right back to zero again.”

Russell also confirmed defenceman Matt Murphy has a shoulder injury, although there still isn’t a comprehensive diagnosis. He too is unlikely to return before Christmas.

“He’ll be evaluated again on Tuesday by our doctor but we know already he’ll be out a minimum of two weeks by the looks of things," Russell said. "We’ll know more soon, hopefully.”

Losing Drouin and Murphy is clearly a major blow for the Mooseheads, who were in second place overall with a 22-10-0-1 record heading into Saturday’s games. Drouin is second in league scoring with 50 points in 23 games. He is widely considered the best player in all of major junior hockey.

Murphy is having an outstanding season and is one of Halifax’s best defencemen.

“Those are two top guys so it’s obviously tough to lose them,” Russell said. “But it’s also an opportunity for some guys to step up and show the team what they’ve got.”